
E 

J 



w-i 




• • 



v.. 



IN MEMORIAM 



y 



k 



w 



• • 



ADDRESS 



AT THE BURIAL 



BRIG. GEN. WILLIAM R TERRILL, 



October 16th, 1862, 



REV. ALEXANDER G. CUMMINS, 



CHRIST CHURCH, READING. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
C. SHERMAN & SON, PRINTERS. 
^ 1862. 



A 



Ca41 



r\^c<^ 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Reading, October 17th, 1862. 

Heverend and dear Sir : 

The discourse you delivered yesterday, upon the occasion of 
the funeral of the late General Terrill, was such an expression 
of our individual appreciation of his worth and character, that 
we would feel greatly gratified if j'ou would allow us to have it 
published; so that your eloquent teachings, drawn from the 
blameless life and heroic death of that noble gentleman, soldier, 
and Christian, may live longer than in the memories of those, 
whose privilege it was to listen to them as they fell from your 
lij)s. 

Very respectfullj% 

J. Pringle Jones, Hiester Clymer, 
D. McKnigiit, John Banks, 

C. B. McKnigiit, Diller Luther, 
"Wm. M. Hiester, Wm. H. Clymer, 
J. Glancy Jones, John S. Eichards. 

Rev. a. S. Cdmmins, 

Rector of Christ Church, Reading. 



Christ Chcrch Rectory, October 18, 1862. 

Gentlemen : 

I do not feel at liberty to refuse your request of the manu- 
script of my short address, upon the occasion of the funeral of 
the late General Terrill, for publication. But I would suggest 
that it be not published otherwise than for private distribution 
among the friends of the deceased, — as a slight memorial of 
patriotic and Christian virtue. 

Faithfully yours, 

Alexander G. Cummins. 

To the Hon. J. P. Jones, D. McKxight, 
and others. 



ADDRESS. 



"Ye shall diu like men, aud fall like one of the princes.'' — Ps. LXXXII, 7. 

The Almighty Governor of the worlds, whose pro\i- 
dence never faileth to order all things, both in heaven 
and earth, in His inscrutable wisdom has summoned to 
his Savior the soul of Brigadier-General William R. 
TerriU. 

What mean these tokens of grief? these habiliments 
of mourning ] Why do the people press into the courts 
of the Lord's sanctuary ] Ah ! they feel that one who 
was a man among men is dead ; one who was as a prince 
in battle, has fallen like one of the princes ! 

You are assembled to honor the memory of the heroic 
dead ; with hearts bowed in sorrow for the death of one 
who is lost not only to his family and relatives, but to 
you and to his country. Your loss, my friends, is in- 
deed the nation's loss. 

The country weeps with you to-day. Her heart bleeds 
for this her faithful son and brave defender, who lies 
cold in death, never more to unfurl her standard of free- 
dom, — never more to plant her batteries against the 
ranks of invading enemies, or to marshal brigades on 
bloodstained fields for the nation's life and the nation's 
glory. You do well to weep for liira : the country does 
w ell to weep. Ah ! yes. We are gathered around the 
remains of a General who offered his body a mlling sac- 



.6 



rifice on the altar of his country. Nor only that ; but a 
sacrifice which must have cost him a struggle in that 
manly heart of hearts, whose severity and duration could 
be realized only by one who should be placed in pre- 
cisely similar circumstances. 

General Terrill was a Virginian by birth. Among 
the hills of Virginia he received his early training from 
parents who loved him as the son of bright promise, and 
watched the progress of his studies and the unfolding of 
his intellect Avith unwonted parental solicitude. Finding 
that his mind turned with strong inclination to the mili- 
tary profession, they sent him to West Point. His 
career there distinguished him above his fellows ; and 
his faithful habits of application to study, and the 
thoroughness of his acquirements, secured for him, at 
the end of the allotted term of study, the appointment 
of Assistant Professor in that institution. Although he 
received his professional education in the North, all his 
natural connections were with the South. At the age of 
not full twenty-eight years, when he was called upon to 
decide what should be his personal position toward the 
Government of the United States in its great crisis, he 
was young enough to be both impressible and impulsive ; 
yet being morally mature above his years, he acted with 
sublime independence and patriotic devotion. 

When the nation was first plunged into the fiery fur- 
nace of rebellion ; when men's hearts were failing them 
for fear, in view of the mighty calamity which was rend- 
ing society into fragments and ruthlessly severing the 
dearest ties of family and friendship ; when men in the 
North were hurrying to their relatives in the South to 
fight against the flag which had protected them ; and 
men at the South were banding together in solid masses 
to strike for what they called their liberty, and were 



branding all who clung to the Union as miscreants,. 
General Terrill calmly surveyed the melancholy scene of 
desertion and treason, and firmly stood by the flag of his 
beloved country, which now infolds his body for the 
burial. His father urged him, with earnest and tearful 
entreaties, to join hands with his Southern relatives and 
friends. His ears were filled with the supplications of 
those most nearly allied to him, both in social and mili- 
tary bonds, at the South, and the most liberal offers of 
rank and position in the rebel army were made to him 
by men occupying high places, with many of whom he 
enjoyed intimacy and relationship. But notwithstanding 
all this pressure and temptation, he unfalteringly stood 
by the Union and the Constitution, resolved to die in 
their defence. Nothing could shake his lofty pm'pose. 
Nothing could swerve him from his conscientious duty. 
No rank or honor could tempt him from his allegiance. 
Like a rock, amid the lashings of the storm-tossed waves, 
he stood nobly by the old State ship, which was riding 
almost rudderless upon the angry sea of revolution. But 
the severest trial was to see the love of parents and 
friends changing into liatred. When they found that all 
their efforts were unavailing to win him to their cause, 
they not only fell off from him, but also banished him 
from their fellowship. In place of entreaties, they now 
hurled taunts and threats of the most stinging nature at 
him. But dauntless, he moved above them all. Was 
there no sacrifice 1 Was there not genuine patriotism 1 
I have said that General Terrill was a Virginian by 
birth. True ; but the boundaries of no one State mea- 
sured his patriotism. It extended from the mountains 
of Maine to the plains of Texas and the golden shores of 
California. He loved not Virginia alone, but his whole 
country. His heart could beat for every State ; it had a 



8 



.chord for them all, which could vibrate for the weal or 
woe of each. His self-love was second to his love of 
country. It was first only as the poet has described it: 

" Self-love but serves the virtuous mind to wake, 
As the small pebble stirs the j)eaceful lake ; 
The centre moved, a circle straight succeeds, 
Another still, and still another spreads; 
Friend, parent, neighbor, first it will embrace, 
His country next, and next all human race." 

The brave officer whose death we mourn, was well 
known to many of you, my brethren. Here in your 
streets you met and talked with him. You know what 
success attended his labors while recruiting as Captain 
in your midst. You saw his manly form and prince-like 
bearing. You looked upon the gallant Captain with 
pride. You had augured valiant service on the field of 
strife ; and perhaps you prayed that it might be long- 
continued. Valiant service there was ; but God decreed 
it to be not long-continued. To His will it is our part 
to bow in submission. And oh ! why not ? God holds 
in His hands the times and seasons. " He does not 
willingly afflict or grieve the children of men." " He 
hath done all things well." 

And is there no consolation in the fact that the Gene- 
ral died like a hero 1 

When engaged in the dreadful conflict which pro%ed 
to be his last, the issue seemed to hang in awful doubt, 
and the soldiers of our army were holding back from the 
face of carnage, which shook the eartli and scattered 
death ; he advanced to the front, where the iron hail was 
falling in blasting showers, and with that calmness and 
self-possession so characteristic of his nature, cheered on 
his men, and then quietly went to the batteries to sight 
the pieces for more efiective fire. Whilst there so en- 



gaged, a shell bvirsting in mid-air over his head sent a 
fragment of iron to his breast, and the brave General 
Terrill fell with a mortal wound. He fell " like one of 
the princes." The ambulance carried him from the field. 
With his faithful attendants around him he lingered for 
a short time, and then God took the soul of the hero to 
Hims(;lf How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons 
of war perished ! 

General Terrill was no less a Christian than a patriot 
soldier. His eminent virtue endeared him to all who 
knew him. He lived in communion with the Episcopal 
Church, and was ftiithful in the discharge of all his reli- 
gious duties. Indeed, his Christian life, for vigorous faith 
in salvation by Jesus Christ, for self-denial, and charity 
and zeal in the spread of the Gospel, was a beautiful 
pattern, in every way worthy of imitation both by the 
civilian and the soldier. He loved his Savior as much 
amid the stirring scenes of the camp as in the quiet re- 
treat of home, and under the sweet influences of the 
family circle. He was a practical Christian, and made 
his religion felt by all those with whom he came in con- 
tact. The service of the Church, as contained in the 
Prayer-book, he was accustomed to read to his men on 
each Lord's day. Thus he never forgot the Captain of 
his salvation ; but always endeavored to serve Him by 
his prayers and his example. 

The oath which bound him to serve his countiy he 
viewed as a high and holy thing, — as made unto God, 
and not with men. Whatever might have been his in- 
clinations by nature, under the effectual guidance of 
Di\'ine grace, he was so rooted and grounded in the 
principle of obedience to the powers constituted of God 
supreme, that he could not for a moment contemplate 
the violation of an obligation which, though assumed on 



10 



earth, was witnessed to in heaven, without a sliudder. 
Noble Christian was he when compared with many who 
cast off the same obHgation without a scruple ! If the 
pure principles of Christ's Gospel had ruled the hearts 
and minds of our erring brethren as his spirit was ruled, 
it is easy to see that there would have been no rebellion 
to quell, no war to wage, and no wounds of country to 
heal. We should cherish the memory of such an ex- 
ample, so notable for the love of coinitry and the love of 
Christ. His is a rare example ; and we should direct 
the eyes of young men, who are lea^^ing liome and its 
religious influences for the toils and turmoil of the cam- 
paigns of the army, to the pattern — the Christian pat- 
tern — which the life of (General Terrill has wrought. 

Life's loom stops only with death : it weaves through 
sleep. The pattern at sunset grows till sunrise. Death 
snaps the thread and cuts short the pattern. Let us 
trust that his shall increase, though he be dead, and in- 
crease till its counterpart shall be woven in the characters 
of many Avho have gone to the defence of justice and 
truth. And now let us go to the grave which shall re- 
ceive all that embodied the virtues of the loving hus- 
band, the good and brave officer, the pure patriot, and 
the faithful Christian. He is now at rest. The sword 
is laid aside for the sceptre of kingship with Christ. 
The word of command is merged in perfect obedience to 
God. We may not sorrow any more ; " for if we believe 
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which 
sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." 



> 6 l«ttg 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 700 536 



